WiSE UP 2012 – reflections from a delegate

by CAMAWISE on June 30, 2012

CamAWiSE Career Day – 22 June 2012

A fantastic networking event has been organised by CamAWiSE. The day started off with an introduction about the different types of scientists. This was a real eye-opener that there are other science jobs available outside a lab. This was followed by a panel discussion in which 4 women described their career path. They were all very successful but it also became clear that they all had to make career decisions based on their private life as well as from a career perspective and that they struggled with dilemma’s that many female scientists working in a lab on temporary contracts and wanting to raise a family are still facing. It was great to hear these women had similar issues and they were all very open about it.

Next was a workshop about authentic leadership. One of the tasks was to think about and prioritise your values, this was very useful to find out what is really important to you and it is a good starting point to think about the next step in my career.

The lunch apart from being very nice was a good time to meet many people. Most women were similar age and at a similar stage in their career, it was very useful to find out how they were dealing with career issues. The afternoon was packed with great workshops although they were all quite short, all the trainers got their points across really well. It was great to get some hints about effective negotiation and to think about who you are and what you really want in life. Perhaps one workshop less would have been better, though difficult to choose which one, it would have given more time for the other workshops now it felt a bit like an information overload.

There was a great atmosphere during the whole day and everyone was really open and wanting to meet new people. I met lots of different women with all kinds of jobs and it was very helpful to chat to them how they got there and what they liked about their jobs. Overall a fantastic event to have taken part in.